Rotary engine



ROTARY ENGmE;v i l APELICATION FILED' FEB.'14 1920.l y 1,378,41 5. Patented May 17, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. B. JOHNSON..

ROTARY ENGINE.

.'.FPLICATION man FEB.14. 1920.

Patented May 17,1921

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- narran srerssg ARTHUR B. JOHNSON, on Las ANIMAS, COLORADO.-

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May y17, 1921.

. Application led February 14, 1920. Serial No. 358,799.

To all fui/720m` t may concave:

Be it known that l, ARTHUR B. JoHNsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Las Animas, in the county of Bent andV State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary engines having novel means for utilizing steam pressure as a source of power.

An important object of this invention is to provide a rotary engine having a pair of coacting rotors and novel means for directing steam or other motive fluid into contact with the rotors a plurality of times, thereby resulting in a more economical operation of the engine. y

A. further obj ect of the invention is to provide a rotary engine which isof highly simplified construction, simple in use and comparatively economical to operate at a variety of speeds. Y

Other objects and advantages of this in- .vention will be apparent during the. course of the Yfollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which'like numerals are employed .to designate` like parts through the same: f

Figure l is a central vertical section through a rotary engine embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the same, Y

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same, Fig. 4 is a .diagrammatical view of the casing illustrating the arrangement of the several high and low pressure receivers. v lathe drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodi-' ment of the invention, the numeral l0 generally designates a base which may be attached through the medium of bolts 11 to a floor or other support. A pair of legs or standards l2 extend upwardly from the base and form j a support for a rotor housing or stator 13. The stator or casing 13 is .provided on opposite sides with rotor heads 14 and 15 which conform in configurationto 'the stator and are secured to the Asame by fastening means 16 preferably' in' Vthe form of bolts. The rotor heads 14 and 15 are each provided with a pair of spaced bosses 17 arranged outwardly of and surrounding openings 18 through which are extended power shafts 19. As illustrated particularly in Fig. 2, an any rotors. Each rotor is provided with a threaded engagement with and adjustable within said bosses. The glands 20 obviouslyv serve asa means for preventing the leakage otf fluid pressure from the interior of the s ator.

The rotor head 14 is provided with a plurality of spaced outwardly extending brackets or arms 22 forming a support for a later-l ally extending plate or bridge 23. The end portions of the bridge 23 are provided with bearings 24 which may be formed from, a pair of semi-circular sections held in position by cap screws 25. The bearings 24 may be of any suitable anti-friction metal. Each shaft 19 has a gear 26 keyed or otherwise se cured thereon and meshing with the gear of. the other shaft so that both of the shafts will be operated together.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the shafts 19 are provided with rotors 27 and 28 secured in position by keys 29 which lit within Opposed keyways 30 and 3l in the shafts and the lurality of radially arranged spaced blgdes 32 which have their edge portions 33 and their end portions 34 extended inwardly so fas to provide bucket blades. As illustrated particularly in Fig. 1, the axes of the rotors 28 and 29 are arranged in spaced parallel relation and therefore the blades 32 are caused to interlock at the point where the rotors are arranged the closest together. This interlocking of the'blades does not, however, cause the blades to contact so that the rotors may Voperate without an appreciable amount of drag or friction. illustrated in Fig. 1, they periphery of each rotor is provided between theblades with concave recesses to receive the outer portions of the blades of the other rotor wherebyleakage of steam past the blades is reduced to a minimum. Motive steam is injected into contact with the blades through high pressure nozzles 35 in the rotor heads 14 and 15.`

Asf-

The nozzles 35 are arranged slightly above the shafts V19 and discharge the steam against the blades at a slight angle to the` same. As the steam is injected into the casing on Opposite sides of the same, the rotors are prevented from binding against either of the rotor heads 14 or 15. The casing 13 is provided with a downwardly extending pointed steam cut-olf 36 arranged directly above the steam nozzles 35 and adapted to direct the steam after being injected into the casing into contact with the blades of each the steam from the'receiver at an angle into\ contact with the blades a second time. rlhe pressure of the steam is, of course, reducedupon leaving the receiver 37 but a more uni form movement of the rotor is insured by so conveying the steam. ABy thisconstruction the economy with which the engine may be operated is materially increased. All of the steamA does not, however, enter the receiver 37 but a portion of the steam continues to act on the blades 32. Y

' When the steam leaves the nozzle 38 of the high pressure receiver 37, the same is of course brought into contact with the radial blades 32 and is subsequently directed into a low pressure receiver 39 in the rotor head 1 5.V Vith reference to F ig. 3, it will be noted that the low pressure receiver 39 is curved longitudinally and is provided with Va discharge nozzle 40 which directs the steam from the receiver into contact with the blades a third time. A plurality of spaced stationary guides or blades 42 are arranged at the entrance to the low pressure receiver 39 and serve to direct the steam into the re-V ceiver 39. Finallythesteam is discharged into exhaust chambers 43 from where it is conveyed through an exhaust pipe 44 threaded or otherwise secured to an interiorly screw threaded extension 45 in 'communication with the exhaust chambers 43.

lThe steam directed against the blades of the rotor 28 is also conveyed through a high pressure receiver 37 formed in the rotor head 15 and discharging against the blades of the rotor at a somewhat reduced pressure. The arrangement of the high Vand low pressure receivers for the rotor 28 willbe the reverse from that of the rotor 27. Upon leaving the discharge jet 38 of the receiver formed on the rotor head 15, the steam Ais again directed into contact with the rotor. The low pressure receiver 39 of the rotor 27 is formed on the rotor head 14 so that the steam is caused to traversethe blades in entering said-receiver 39. As particularly illustrated in Fig. 3,.thestea1n is discharged from the low pressure receiver and contacts with the blades just prior t0l entering the exhaust Y be varied according to the conditions under which the engine operates and according to the size of the same. For instance, in ahigh speed engine the blades will of necessity be closer together and an increased number of steam jetswill be provided about the rotors.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same and that such minor changes in construction and arrangement of parts may be made as will remain within the spirit of the invention and claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a casing having a pair of rotor heads, of steam supply jets formed on said rotor heads and discharging at an angle to said rotors, and a. downwardly extending pointed dividing member arrangedbetween the upper portions of A'said rotors. Y

2. The combination with a casing having a pair of rotor heads, of steam supply jets secured to said heads on opposite sides of said casing, rotors arranged within said casing and h'avinginterlocked spaced blades, a high pressure receiver for each rotor, and a low pressure receiver for each rotor.

3. The combination with a casing having a rotor head on each side, of rotors having radial blades, shafts supporting said rotors, means connecting said shafts, steam supply jets carried by said rotor heads, arcuate -receivers formed inV said rotor heads and having inlet and discharge means, a second set of receivers formed in the rotor heads' and `having inlet and discharge means in commu- VVnicationwith the interior of the casing, statlonary guides carriedrby the second-named the scope of what is Y receivers at the inlet ends of the same, andz a dividing member arranged adjacent'said' steam supply jets. Y

In testimony whereof Ivaiiix my'signature. 

